Two in one: the little bat that pollinates and disperses plants at an urban site in Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

The glossophagine Pallas’s long-tongued bat (Glossophaga soricina) fares well in urban environments across its range. In addition to roost sites, there are nectar and fruit sources available in diverse situations across the urban gradient. Phyllostomid bats that thrive in urbanized situations are behaviorally plastic generalists and rely on patches of ornamental or feral plants as food sources. Herein we report on G. soricina and its food sources at an urbanized site in Southeastern Brazil. This small phyllostomid bat consumes nectar from landscaping ornamental plants, besides consuming the soft pulp along with the tiny seeds of pioneer trees and shrubs. In addition to these natural sources, the bat exploits hummingbird feeders to consume the sugared water. Ingested small seeds are defecated in flight, the bat acting as a disperser of pioneer plants that favor cleared areas. Glossophaga soricina role as flower-pollinator and seed-disperser at Neotropical urban areas merits further attention due both to the maintenance of urban biodiversity and delivery of ecosystem services.

In the concrete jungle: the animalivorous bat Tonatia bidens (Phyllostomidae) recorded in the metropolis of São Paulo, Brazil

“…Adriana Ruckert da Rosa 1 , Débora Cardoso de Oliveira 1 , Guilherme S. T. Garbino 2 * still being affected by factors such as increased predation risk, increased competition, and conflicts with humans (Russo & Ancillotto 2014). In Brazil, most of the synanthropic bat species are insectivores or frugivores, which fared relatively well due to more abundant food and shelter (Nunes et al 2017;Sazima & Sazima 2022).…”